Friday, May 3, 2013
The bill will go before Gov. Deval Patrick for approval.
The Massachusetts Senate passed a $300 million transportation bond bill that, if approved by the governor, will help finance transportation needs across the state. The funds provided in the bill can be used by every municipality in the state for highway construction, preservation and improvement projects, and maintaining, repairing, improving and constructing town and county ways and bridges, according to a statement issued by Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex counties state Senator Richard J. Ross. “This legislation provides much-needed funding to our cities and towns for transportation projects essential to keeping Massachusetts roads safe and efficient for residents,” Ross said in the statement. “During such troubling economic times, it is…
Friday, March 22, 2013
Governor met with a delegation from the Brazilian National Congress and the First Lady of São Paulo Dr. Ana Estela Haddad.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick Thursday met with a delegation from the Brazilian National Congress and the First Lady of São Paulo Dr. Ana Estela Haddad. The federal delegation traveled to Massachusetts for a conference on early education and early intervention at Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child. The congressmen and congresswomen, who represent several of Brazil’s political parties, are professionals in the fields of medicine, education, business and law. In December of 2011, Patrick traveled on the Massachusetts-Brazil Innovation Economy Mission to promote job creation in the life sciences, IT, clean energy and education sectors, along with economic development partnerships between Massachusetts and Brazil. The …
Friday, March 15, 2013
The transportation bond bill would provide funding for modernization and maintenance of the transportation system.
Gov. Deval Patrick filed a transportation bond bill this week that will finance an ambitious 10-year plan to overhaul the state’s ailing transportation system. The bill would invest $13.7 billion over 10 years in The 21st Century Transportation Plan “The Way Forward” if it is accepted by the state’s legislature, according to a press release from the governor’s office. The funding would address a backlog of deferred maintenance and strategically improve the state’s transportation system by reducing congestion on roads, curbing delays and minimizing crowding on trains and buses, according to the press release. “These investments will create the jobs and opportunity today that will build a stronger Commonwealth for tomorrow,” Patrick said in …
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
The event was organized by Campaign for Our Communities, a coalition of more than 120 organizations across the commonwealth.
Hundreds of people bused in from across the state packed into a State House auditorium Tuesday morning to rally in support of Gov. Deval Patrick's tax plan, which they say is critical to make much needed improvements in education and transportation infrastructure. The rally, which was organized by Campaign for Our Communities, a coalition of more than 120 organizations across the commonwealth, ended with attendees heading off to the offices of their representatives, urging them to vote for Patrick's plan. The Massachusetts Teachers Association supplied a bus for members of the Framingham Teachers Association to attend the rally. The governor's $34.8 billion budget proposal calls for an increase in the income tax from 5.25 percent to 6.25 …
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Gov. Patrick announces a new online tool to show benefits of investing in Framingham and the Commonwealth; his proposed budget would need approval by the legislature.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled this week an online map tool that shows members of the public, in real terms, what investing in growth and opportunity will mean for their communities. “This tool will help people see exactly what to expect in their own backyard as part of the investments we’ve proposed,” said Gov Patrick in a press release. “Meaningful investments in education and transportation today will significantly improve our economic future both in the short term and for generations to come.” Each map outlines transportation projects in every community that would be funded under the Governor’s FY14 budget proposal, as well as the additional Chapter 70 education funding and support for public colleges and universities …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
While specific deductions would end, personal exemptions would double under the Patrick budget.
A recent analysis of Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed budget finds that it eliminates 44 tax breaks that benefit a large slice of Massachusetts taxpayers. Patrick's $34.8 billion FY2014 budget includes not only a 1 percentage point hike in the income tax – from 5.25 percent to 6.25 percent – but the end of such deductions such as the capital gains from the sale of a person's primary home, college tuition, and contributions to a health savings account. The analysis, by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, found that the eliminations would raise an additional $1 billion for the commonwealth. But Patrick's assistant secretary for fiscal policy, Gregory R. Mennis, told The Republican that that amount would be offset by the doubling of personal…
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Secretary of Economic Development Greg Bialecki to discuss importance of infrastructure investments and building on the Governor’s plan to create jobs and expand economic opportunity throughout the Commonwealth.
The Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki will address the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce Thursday at the Exec-Connect Luncheon at the Sheraton Framingham. He will discuss the importance of infrastructure investments and building on the Governor’s plan to create jobs and expand economic opportunity throughout Massachusetts. In Gov. Deval Patrick’s State of the Commonwealth address and in his budget announcement in January, he laid out a plan to grow jobs by making investments in education, innovation and infrastructure to grow opportunity in the near-term, and strengthen the Commonwealth in the long-term. Bialecki’s remarks will focus on the investments in education and transportation that the …
42.296973
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1657 Worcester Rd, Framingham, MA
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Tuesday, February 26, 2013
A White House report gives examples of where federal aid would be cut.
Massachusetts would see more than $91 million in federal funds cut from myriad programs if Congress fails to act this week to avoid the sequester, the Obama Administration said Sunday. In a move designed to pressure Republicans into accepting new taxes on the wealthy, as part of a deal to prevent the sequester from taking effect on Friday, the White House released reports that outlined how those cuts would impact individual states, The Huffington Post reported. Here are some examples of what's on the chopping block for us here in Massachusetts, according to the report: After the reports were released, congressional Republicans criticized the Obama administration for the PR move, The Huffington Post reported. “Rather than issuing last-…
Friday, February 8, 2013
Governor Deval Patrick has declared a State of Emergency, but what does that mean?
While speaking from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency bunker in Framingham, Governor Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency today banning car travel after 4 p.m. According to information from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, a state of emergency can involve different measures and does not always affect travel or private businesses. There may be a request for drivers to stay off the roads and for businesses to change their hours, but the governor may also order roads to be closed to non-emergency traffic. There has not been an ordered ban on travel since the Blizzard of '78. Violators could be fined up to $500 and be sentenced to a year in jail, although Governor Patrick says the main purpose is to get …
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Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency
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Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The plan focuses on investments in transportation and education while calling for an income tax increase coupled with a lower sales tax.
In submitting his $34.8 billion budget to the Legislature Wednesday, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said the proposed income tax hike is part of a comprehensive package aimed at investing in the state's infrastructure and in driving growth. The proposal asks for an increase in the income tax from 5.25 percent to 6.25 percent coupled with a reduction in the sales tax from 6.25 percent to 4.5 percent. It also doubles personal exemptions. Despite the proposed income tax hike, Patrick says that low and modest-income workers will pay less in taxes under his proposal, and only the "more fortunate see a larger increase." "I do not submit this proposal lightly. I understand that many households in Massachusetts continue to struggle from the…
